The Xavier gators completed another successful fall sports season on Thursday, Nov. 9, following the Volleyball State Championships. Varsity sports during the fall of 2017 included: badminton, cross country, golf, mountain biking, spiritline, swim and dive and volleyball. In every sport, the gators went on to compete in the state playoffs and brought home state championship titles in golf, swim and dive and volleyball.

Badminton concluded their season in the semifinals of the state tournament. The gators went 12-2 during the season, finishing fourth in the state out of 29 Division 1 teams, and 2nd in the Division 1 Premier Region.

Cross Country competed at multiple meets throughout the season, both statewide and nationwide. The Gators consistently finished in the top five in every meet they competed in, and finished as state runners up at the end of the season. Two freshman, Jamie Stelnik and Cami Merickel, were the top two gator finishers at state, and helped the team secure the second place finish.

The legacy continued for gator golfers as they won their 35th state championship — making that 19 in a row. Sophomore Ashley Menne took home the state individual title. This was a repeat title for Menne who took home the individual title last year as a freshman.

The Xavier/Brophy mountain biking team made history this season with a first-time top five finish during a race. The team concluded their season at the fifth race of the Arizona Interscholastic Cycling League. In the final standings, Xavier and Brophy finished eighth overall in the team competition. In the individual standings, sophomore Erin Hill finished third in the girls sophomore division, and sophomore Samantha Sandoval finished ninth in the same division. For the entire season for sophomore girls, Hill finished fourth overall and sophomore Heather Kwapiszeski finished fifth.

A year-long sport, XCP Spiritline began their competition season at the AIA State Qualifier. Both pom and cheer qualified for the state championships, finishing second in both categories at the qualifier. Senior pommie Grace McClain said, “I think state qualifier went really well this year. Always, with a new team we are nervous about how we will perform and place at the first competition. It went better than we expected. We were very proud to be runner up in both cheer and pom, but we are looking forward to working even harder throughout the year and to grow as a team!”

Swim and dive had a great season, and swim took back the state title for 2017. Both swim and dive finished in the top two at every meet, and topped it off with a win at state. This win made it title number 28 for swim and the first win in five years.

Going into the playoffs ranked number four in the nation and number one in the state, the Xavier volleyball team had a lot of weight on their shoulders. However, the team handled the playoffs with confidence, going on to win the state title against Corona Del Sol. When asked about her favorite part of the volleyball season, senior Lanie Wagner quickly replied, “the best part of this season was not only winning state, but winning it with this team. I’m super glad I had the opportunity to be apart of xavier volleyball and as a senior, help lead them to state.” Throughout the season, the gators went 40-3 with two of their losses being to out-of-state teams.